” The federal government spent over $100 billion in taxpayer funds improperly in 2012— one element of that notorious “waste, fraud, and abuse” in federal spending that we hear so much about. Scholars at the Mercatus Center recently released a chart that shows the breakdown of these improper payments across federal programs.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the lion’s share of this improper is in three largest healthcare entitlement programs: Medicare Fee-for-Service, Medicare Advantage (Part C), and Medicaid. Combined, these programs account for a whopping $61.9 billion in improper payments. To put that in perspective, $61.9 billion is more than the entire 2014 budget for the Department of Homeland Security. In other words, we’re talking about real money.”

” New data has revealed what is perhaps the most depressing economic statistic of the year: More people in America are on welfare than have full-time jobs. Yes, you read that correctly. Welfare is now America’s most popular occupation.

From the U.S. Census Bureau, reported by Investor’s Business Daily:

At the end of 2011, the last year for which data are available, some 108.6 million people received one or more means-tested government benefit programs — bureaucratese for welfare.

Meanwhile, there were just 101.7 million people with full-time jobs, the Census data show, including both the private and government sectors.”

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe

the public with the public’s money.”

It would appear that we’ve reached the endgame , which has been the progressive goal all along . A nation of dependents will continue to elect those that dole out the “entitlements” but another wise , departed soul had the last word on government largesse …. Lady Thatcher’s famous quote immediately comes to mind as we tumble headlong into insolvency :

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

For those that haven’t noticed , we’ve run out of other people’s money .

” The fast expansion of disability here is part of a national trend that has seen the number of former workers receiving benefits soar from just over 5 million to 8.8 million between 2000 and 2012. An additional 2.1 million dependent children and spouses also receive benefits.

The crush of new recipients is putting unsustainable financial pressure on the program. Federal officials project that the program will exhaust its trust fund by 2016 — 20 years before the trust fund that supports Social Security’s old-age benefits is projected to run dry.

The growth of the disability rolls has accelerated since the recession hit in 2007. As the labor market tightened, workers with disabilities that employers previously accommodated on the job — painful hips, mental disorders, weak hearts — were often the first to go. Finding new work often proved difficult, causing many to turn to the disability rolls for support.

The migration of so many people from work to the disability rolls is raising concern among lawmakers in Congress that the program is being stretched beyond its original intent of providing a safety net for former workers whose medical problems make them unable to work.

Last week, the Government Accountability Office found that the program made $1.3 billion in potentially improper payments to people who had jobs when they were supposedly disabled. The allegedly improper payments represent less than 1 percent of disability payments.

While fraud remains a concern, policymakers say the program’s biggest vulnerability is the subjective criteria that create a large gray area for applicants. A worker with physical impairments that are difficult to document precisely, like a bad back, can tolerate the condition while on the job but claim it as a reason to go on disability if he falls out of work for a prolonged period.

Many recipients first go on unemployment, which can last a few months or even more than year. Disability, by contrast, can pay out benefits for decades. The vast majority of recipients never return to work.

“The disability program is increasingly becoming a long-term unemployment program,” said Richard Burkhauser, a Cornell University professor who co-wrote a book on disability policy and has testified before Congress about the program. “We see a lot of it now because of the effects of the recession.” “

” The total number of people in the United States now receiving federal disability benefits hit a record 10,962,532 million in April, which exceeds the 10,815,197 people who live in the nation of Greece.

According to newly released data from the Social Security Administration, the record 10,962,532 total disability beneficiaries in April, included a record 8,865,586 disabled workers (up from 8,853,614 in March), 1,936,236 children of disabled workers, and 160,710 spouses of disabled workers.

April was the 195th straight month that the number of American workers collecting federal disability payments increased. The last time the number of Americans collecting disability decreased was in January 1997. That month the number of workers taking disability dropped by 249 people—from 4,385,623 in December 1996 to 4,385,374 in January 1997.”

” Is it her employer’s fault that she’s a moron? No – it’s not. And perhaps she’s super awesome at taking care of disabled people. Perhaps firing her isn’t appropriate. I don’t know. I just know that she deserves every ounce of public humiliation and ridicule that is coming her way. Especially since she is still excusing her own behavior.

” It’s true that the “good old days” weren’t always good, but we should also remember that our belief that we’re completely superior to previous generations of Americans doesn’t even remotely square with reality. It’s fine to pat ourselves on the back for being wealthier, more educated and considerably less racist than we used to be, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that those less educated, backward people in their antiquated clothes were head and shoulders better than we are in a myriad of other ways. We should remember that the real problem isn’t having a problem; it’s having a problem and not even realizing that we have a problem. We have a problem and most Americans don’t realize it.

1) Dependency: Our ancestors were some of the most independent people on earth. They spent months traveling across an unforgiving landscape, fought off Indians, built their own houses, ate the food they grew and carved out a life for themselves. Today, a large number of Americans are claiming that they’re incapable of paying for their own birth control. There are 47 million Americans on food stamps, which is an all-time high. That’s more than 1 out of every 7 Americans. Since 2008 more Americans have gone onto Social Security disability than the net number of jobs that have been created in that same time period. Within the living memory of some Americans there was no Social Security or Medicare in this country; yet we’ve gone from 16 workers for each retiree in 1950 to 3.3 today to an estimated 2 workers per retiree in 2025.”

“1980, presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan said, “are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country
than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was? Do you feel that our security is as safe, that we’re as strong as we were four years ago?”

Washington Post points out a few stats:
1. Median household income fell 4.8%, to $50,964 from June 2009 to June 2012.
2. Incomes have dropped more since the start of the recovery than they did during the recession itself. (Recession was from December 2007 to June 2009.) ”